: : : I have had this thought. What is depression? Isn't it a lot about being stuck in the presence with no (subjective) prospect for growth? Life is so much about wanting to grow!!! This is also why I think we MUST NOT know the purpose of it all, because then we would already know it all and didn't have to grow anymore. It is part of human nature that we want to grow, to strive for something, to fulfill ourselves. We need this "not knowing what it is all about".: : : So what happens if suddenly we start questioning this? If we forget that we NEED NOT know what it is all about, and suddenly think: "Oh I don't know the meaning of life so probably there is no meaning". Right: We become depressed.: : : What if suddenly we feel like we are stuck in the present and feel like all we are ever going to have is what is here right now? We suddnely don't WANT to grow anymore... because we don't see the purpose anymore... right: We become depressed.: : : And what if suddenly all the little things seem so pointless? Like, "what is so special about going to see that movie.. it is all so ridiculous..." if we start feeling that way, right , we are on our way into depression.

: : : But we have to remember: it is NORMAL that we don't know what life is all about. One day we will know and I am pretty sure we will all understand. But right now we just MUST NOT know, because that would undermine one of our basic life instincts, the instinct to grow.: : : And we have to remember that this is really what depression is: This FEELING that all that "minor stuff", the little joys in life, are meaningless. But they are not! Because they are part of life. A movie... is really a great thing, imagine, it is somebody's WORK, it is very valuable. A SONG... how much beauty can be in a song. it is a symptom of depression that we don't enjoy these things anymore. We have to remember: Enjoying these things is NOT ridiculous, it is waht makes other people happy in their everyday lives, and it is only depression that makes them look meaningless.

: : : The same for dreams: People need to have dreams. When we are depressed and feel stuck in the present, we think nothing is ever going to change. But it is UNNATURAL for a human being to live without dreams. It makes us... YES!! depressed.

: : : We CANNOT know what it is all about. But we CAN walk on anyway. because there will be times when we feel certain that we are on the right way. There will be times when we realize it has all had some sense. And somewhere hidden behind it all, is the true meaning of life, that we are just not supposed to know. BECAUSE WE NEED TO HAVE DREAMS and we need to fight and struggle and solve problems and cope with hard times and have some new ideas and say good-bye to some old times (and oh it hurts soometimes)... and it is all part of life.

: : : And life holds many challenges... and YES depression is one of them (and a nasty one because it takes that basic instainct away and replaces it with that kind of lethargy that makes us feel... stuck in the present)... but all these challenges, they are just that, challenges, and for each and every challenge there is a way to fight through it (more than one, usually!), and yes we CAN TURN DEPRESSION AROUND and use it as that: As a CHALLENGE to base a new fight on, the first fight on our way to re-enter into life, that fight that says: AND I'm going to MAKE it through this...: : : And suddenly there is a future again. What we all need: The feleing that... ther eis something out there, whether it is specific (a great dream) or just an unspecific feeling that there is SOMETHING waiting for us...

: : : I wish you all good luck with digging free from the tunnel of lethargy and... holding on to the fight... holding on to a dream... it is possible. I have done it myself, more than once...

: Amazing- you nailed my feelings exactly. Sometimes I wonder though if holding on to the dream is worth it all. I am still trying to get through my own tunnel, and still fighting. Nice to know someone has got through.